Front-end closure.



N. T. McKEE.

FRONT END CLOSURE.

APPLICATION FILED um. 1a. 1918.

1 ,301 1 44. Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

/YE4L 71 MEhEE awwm bo z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NEAL T. MoKEE, OF YONKEBS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO LOCOMOTIVE SUPERHEATERCOMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FRONT-END CLOSURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 22, 1919.

Application filed January 18, 1318. Serial No. 212,455.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEAL T. McKnE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Yonkers, in the county of Westchester, State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in F rout-EndClosures, of which the following is a specification.

My invention deals with closures for the front end of locomotiveboilers, though it may be found of utility in otherconnections.

With the means at present usually e1nployed for closing the front end,access may be had to the sinokebox through a co1nparatively smallcentral door by loosening a rather large number of nuts. If for anypurpose it is necessary to have an unobstructed passage to the smokebox,this can be secured only by taking oif the annular front which carriesthe door. As this front is bolted to the front ring with a large numberof bolts, the operation is a laborious one.

My invention has for its object the provision of a closure of this sortwhich is readily opened and closed, and which, in its open position,leaves the entire front unobstructed.

The invention will be readily understood from the followin descriptionwhich is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. In thelatter, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the front end of a loco motiveequipped with a closure according to my invention; Fig. 2 is a frontview of the same; Figs. 3 and 4 are details on an enlarged scale: Fig. 5shows a modification; Figs. 6, 7, and 8 show a detail of themodification on a larger scale.

. Reference numeral 1 designates the door proper, which I use to closethe front end. This door, it will be noted, is substantially of the samediameter as the smoke box 2, to which it is secured by the hinges 3, 3.Bolted to the door 1 is the ring 4, made of cast iron or other suitablematerial. This ring 4 has the circumferential roove 5, and bears on itsinner face, which 1s parallel to the door, the annular tongue 6. Thistongue 6 engages with the groove 7 of the ring 8, which is secured tothe smokebox sheet by rivets 9. The ring 8 is also provided with agroove, 10, similar to groove 5 of ring 4. When the door is in closedposition, tongue 6 en ages with groove 7, and grooves 5 and 10 heparallel to each other. To hold the door in closed position, and toforce tongue 6 home into groove 7 and make a tight joint, I employ theband 11, made of steel or other suitable material. Its two tongues 12and 13 engage grooves 5 and 10 respectively. This band 11 is split atthe bottom or other convenient point, its two ends carrying the brackets1i14. Secured to each bracket 14: by a pin is a nut 15. One of thelatter has a right hand thread and the other a left hand thread, the twobeing alincd and engaged by the correspondingly threaded screw 16. Thisscrew may be provided with a square end 17, or other means for turningit with a wrench or otherwise. Turning this screw in one direction orthe other, will evidently respectively loosen or tighten the band 11.The surfaces of the tongues 12 and 13 that engage the grooves 5 and 10are so beveled, that a tightening of the band 11 forces the rings 4 and8 together, and seats tongue 6 tightly in groove 7.

To move band 11 out of the way, when it has been loosened, so that door1 may be swung open, I employ a spring 18, one end of which is attachedto the bracket 19, the other end engaging one end of the bell crank 20,which is pivoted at 20" and the other end of which is connected by meansof a pin to the two links 21, the other ends of these links beingsecured by a pin to the lug 22 integral with band 11. Sprin 18 is intension, and when band 11 is foosened it is drawn back into the positionindicated in Fig. 3 by dotted lines. In this position it clears grooves5 and 10, and the door may be swung open.

The ring 8 has on it a shoulder 24, which may be a continuation of thebeveled outer surface of the groove 10, and which extends beyond theremainder of the ring 8. When the spring 18 draws the band 11 back, theband, as is shown in dotted lines, lies in contact with this shoulder.When the band 11 is again contracted, the tongue 13, guided by thebeveled surface with which it is in contact again, enters the groove 10,tongue 12 of course simultaneously entering groove 5.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modification. Here, instead of having a singledevice to draw the band 11 out of the way when the band is opened up,there are three such devices. One of them is at the top, as before, andis like that described above, its two links 21, 21 are clearly shown inFigs. 5 and 6. The

latter figure also shows the end of the bell crank 20, and the lug 22.The other two devices, located one at each side are in every respectlike the one described before, except that each has the end of the bellcrank 20 connected to the lug 22 by means of a sin.-

le link as shaped as shown in Figs. 7 and 8.

hese figures give a side and a top view respectively of the arrangement.The purpose of this modification of the connecting link is that someupward movement of the lugs 22 occurs when the band is drawn out of theway by the springs. The arrangement shown is flexible and admits of suchmovement.

It will be clear that a number of variations are possible in theinvention aS disclosed.

Where these fall within the spirit of the appended claims, I intend thatthey shall be covered by them.

What I claim is 1. In apparatus of the class described, the combinationof a smokebox ring having a peripheral groove, a door with a ring of thesame diameter as said smokebox ring and having a similar groove, saidsmokebox ring having an annular groove in its face, said door ringhaving an annular tongue adapted to engage said annular groove, thesides of the annular groove and tongue being beveled, an expansible bandwith two tongues adapted to engage the peripheral grooves of the tworings, the engaging surfaces of the band and rings being beveled, meansto contract said band and thereby to cause its tongues to engage theperipheral grooves, an annular abutment on the smokebox ring, andautomatic means to move the band when in its expanded condition out ofengagement with the peripheral grooves and against the abutment.

2. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a smokeboxring and a door ring, one of them having in its face a circular groovewith sloping sides the other having a complementary tongue, both of themhaving peripheral conical portions sloping outward and toward each otherwhen the two rings are placed so the tongue and groove engage, anexpansible band with an inner annular channel whose sides slope and arespaced so they will simultaneously engage the said conical portions whenthe band is contracted; and means to contract and expand the band.

3. In apparatus of the class described, the combination of a smokeboxring having a peripheral groove, a door with a ring of the same diameteras the smokeboX ring, the door ring having a similar groove, said smokebox ring having an annular groove in its face, said door ring having anannular tongue adapted to engage said annular groove, the sides of theannular groove and tongue being beveled, an expansible band with twotongues adapted to engage the peripheral grooves of the two rings, theengaging surfaces of the band and rings being beveled, and means tocontract said band and thereby to cause its tongues to engage theperipheral grooves.

NEAL T. McKEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

